Ameprod TVG-10

Manufacturer

Ameprod / Elwro

Origin

Poland

Year of unit

1983

Year of introduction

1979

Type

TV game

a TV game with 10 games and light
gun. Can be connected to TV by RF connector, using channel 35 or
40, depends on pressing first switch. Light gun is connected to
front socket. Points count is always to 15, top buttons are for
restarting move / setting zero.

In Poland some plants tried to manufacture video games
in 1970s, but none of them succeeded. Unimor tried with 2
prototypes, but only one was manufactured in 1970s in small (<1000)
quantities. Some hobby magazines published designs of DIY Pong-like
games, none of them has been widely available in market. In 1970s there
were no integrated circuits generating video games, so everything was
built with logic chips.
In 1976, General Instruments introduced AY-3-8500 chip, which with help
of few discrete components could generate a full Pong-type game with few
variations and shooting using light gun. This chip could be purchased by
eastern block countries, usually from West Germany. In late 1970s, Elwro
engineers designed TVG-10, a TV game with 10 game variations based on
AY-3-8500. First fully-functional units have been manufactured in 1978
or 1979. In 1980 TVG-10 was accessible in market, but it was expensive
and available in small quantities. Elwro manufactured only few thousands
(some sources claim 10000) units, but purchasing large batches of
western circuits was difficult and expensive, especially by Elwro -
national electronic plant.
In 1981 Elwro moved production of TVG-10 to PPZ Ameprod. Ameprod was PPZ
- "Przedsiębiorstwo Polonijno-Zagraniczne", translating to English
"Polish-foreign company". These companies were foreign companies with
partial Polish management. Because they were not connected with Polish
government as strong as national companies, it was easier for them to
buy western components. Ameprod manufactured TVG-10 until 1984 or 1985,
while Elwro still made Videotraf light gun for it. Summing up, about
100000 units have been manufactured and sold.